Charles Shaffer MD sent a message to David P. King Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of Laboratory Corporation of America Holdings Email Address that said:
Mr King:
my name is Dr. Charles Shaffer Ive been a bariatric medicine physician for the last twelve years and have used your lab for the last five years. We have had great service. The people who come and pick up our blood are excellent. The turnaround times are better than I expected the prices are well within the normal range.
However, I have one major concern since most of my patients are beyond 300 pounds it is difficult to draw blood through the standard apparatus. We have to use butterflies its been no problem for many years but suddenly theres been a change in administration and they are allowing me four butterflies for the volume of patients which we see which is about seventy a week.
If you came to my office and saw the 350 pound woman she has arms the size of my legs and very small spider veins. I talk to the supervisor he said we are allowed only four butterflies. We went through this about three years ago and Chris our local representative worked it out. This time I try to contact the guy above him to see if we could come to some understanding he has not returned my call.
As luck would have it we been approached by Quest laboratory to try to earn our business they stated it would be no problem whatsoever to supply us with as many butterflies as we needed because they understood the application of which we use them.
Let me assure you Mr. King I do not wish to transfer over to another laboratory and start all over again but I sure would appreciate your help in having them reestablished our need for butterflies we go through about 20 to 30 a week. If you could let your staff understand who are below you or have them come and spend the day with me. To try to get blood from, someone whos got an arm the size of my leg they would understand the difficulty in the multiple sticks we have to do if we dont have butterflies. I was an emergency room physician for twenty-three years I know how to draw blood. Ive drawn blood out of pediatric patients that were no more than forty weeks old and Ive drawn blood out of 100-year-old lady in my emergency room who weighed only 87 pounds. Any help you could be would be greatly appreciated
. Sincerely
Charles E Shaffer MD
Weigh station Inc.
5403812670
